NAGAPATTINAM: A wind of change is blowing across the garbage yard in Vaitheeswarankoil. When sanitation worker S Parameswari sowed a few seeds of maize and vegetables in one corner of the waste-strewn land, little did she know that she was also sowing the seeds of change.
Her 1,000-square-foot ‘farmland’, with all its greenery, stands in stark contrast to the stench-emanating landfill that surrounds it. Farming was the last thing on her mind when Parameswari and her husband Subramaniam had left their native Kulasekaranallur in Thanjavur district in search of a livelihood. Their struggle to make the ends meet, forced the couple to leave their three children with their grandparents.
It was around two months ago, the couple reached Vaitheeswarankoil, where the town panchayat officials were looking for somebody to take care of the dump yard. “I segregate the waste while my husband works as the watchman of the yard. We earn around `600 each day,” says the 40-year-old woman. The couple, married for 18 years, is employed by Pasumai Kavalargal, a self-help group which handles the yard.
It was at the dump yard, Parameswari suddenly had the idea to make use of her experience as a farm labourer. “We used to work in fields earlier. Over the time, farming activity in our village came down due to water scarcity,” she says. When she approached the panchayat to get permission for her small ‘green revolution’, the officials readily agreed.
Proud civic body fixes ceiling fan in sanitary worker’s room
Parameswari’s efforts started bearing fruits when the civic body decided to reduce the quantity of waste being dumped at the site and allot her 1,000 sq.feet area in the yard. Parameswari, however, had to spend from her hard-earned savings to buy the seeds and other farm inputs.
Impressed by her efforts, the panchayat officials now are giving her more support. K Kuhan, the executive officer of the civic body, says Parameswari is “doing well”. “Our town panchayat is slowly reducing the amount of the waste at the dump yard, and is allowing Parameswari to farm there. We have fixed a ceiling fan in their room as small token of appreciation for her work,” he says.
Staying inside the small machine room next to the yard, the couple is elated over the gift from the civic body. What’s more, Parameswari is receiving appreciation from farther corners. The Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development, SP Velumani, in a tweet on July 20, said: “Parameswari is a great example of the proverb ‘where there is a will, there is a way.’ I warmly wish her self-confidence and perseverance become fertilisers for her farming interest and I wish that victory blooms like a flower in her life.”